As some of you know I haven't been that wrapped in the beemers handling since I got. It rides brilliantly, but doesn't handle mid corner bumps that well, and tended to bottom out and scrap bit on the ground all a little too easily.
About 6 months ago I had a chat to a local BMW guru, and asked him what I'd be looking at to buy a new rear shock assembly, as I felt that was where most of the handling issues were originating from as there is no rebound adjustment on the OEM rear shock. He told me that there were a number of options starting at $1800.00 through to about $3,000 for a rear shock.
So I shelved the idea until the other week when I was told of a guy here in Brisbane that operates a business called Suspension Improvements at Slacks Creek. He specialises in bike suspension, and after a chat about what he felt I needed, I braced myself for the bad news.
As it turned out I was up for about $2,000 but that got me top of teh line Wilbers shocks for both ends of the bike. So I placed the order, paid my 50% deposit and was now content to wait till late January for my new shocks to arrive from Germany all individually tailored for me.
In teh mean time my rear tyre was very sad, so I gave Brisbane Motorcycle tyres a call and ask how much for another set of Pirelli Diablo Strada's for the BMW. There on special at the moment for $325 for a pair fitted!
Bewdy I says. I'll be there later today.
So I rocks in all excited then Conrad from BMT asks me, "mate why are these tyres on your bike?"
I said, why? He told me that the rear tyre on the bike was the wrong profile, and also not load rated for the K1200LT. He said the load rating was out by 10 points (whatever that means).
Anyway, he said we can't fit these Pirelli's, you'll have to go with a Metzeler Marathon for the rear and he'll order the proper front tyre this week. He then took the old tyre off the rim and bounced the old tyre and new tyre to illustrated the extra sidewall strength in the Marathon over the old Pirelli.
To say the new tyre made a difference is an understatement. We rode on Sunday up to Binna Burra 2 up and the bike never once touched the ground, or had issues with mid corner bumps. I was stoked, but then realised I have $2000 worth of suspension upgrades on order that I didn't really need
So I call the guy at Suspension Improvements telling him that I've found the rear tyre was the cause of my handling woes and could I cancel the order? He was receptive to that, but we talked more and he mentioned about how good other BMW's have handed after the upgrade. So I've decided to still go with the suspension upgrade as it can only make the bike handle better again.
But there in lays teh lesson. ALWAYS check the simple things first!!!
Cheers
